Improvement in raking devices for harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' JOHN NELSON, OF It-OGKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDl TALES NEEDHAM, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAKING DEVICES FOR HARVESTES.

Specification forming part of .Letters Patent No. 11,l23, dated January 5, 1864.`

To all whom it may concern: l

Be it known that I, JOHN NELSON, ot' Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Automatic Baking Device for IIarvesters; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, char, and exactlescription ot' thesame. reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a partof this specitication, in which- Figure l is a plan or top View ot' my invention applied to a harvester, the platform ofthe harvester being removed, as indicated by the line x, Fig. 3, in order to show the working parts; Fig. 2, a plan or top view-of the same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section of the same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detached inverted plait of a portion ofthe platform 5 Fig. 5, a horizontal section ot' a portion of-the same, taken in the line z z, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A representsa platform of a harvester, which hasslots amade in itlongitudinallythe greater portion of its length, said slots being parallel with each other, as shown in Fig. 2.

B represents an inclined platte, which is attached to one end of the platform A, and has slots a made in it which are in line with the slots a of the platform and form a continuation of the latter, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The platform A is secured upon the upper part ofa shallow box, C, which extends the whole length ot' the platform, and has two parallel rods, b b, secured within it longitudinally and extendingthe whole length of the box, as shown in Figs. l and 3.

D D are two horizontal pulleys, which are secured to the bottom of the box C, and have an endless chain, E, .tted` upon them, the links c of which catch over teeth d of the pnlleys D, in order to prevent the slipping of the chain. (See Fig. l.) The chain E extends `nearly the whole length of the box (l.

F represents a rake, which is fitted on the rods b b, and is composed of two tubes, e c, connected by a cross-rod, j', a tube, e, being fitted in each rod b. The tubes e are allowed to slide freely on the rods b b, and said tubesl have a shaft, g, connected to them at one-end, and fitted in bearings a in such a manner that the sha-ft is allowed to turn. This shaft g has the rake-teeth t' attached to it, the latter being slightly curved, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The shaftg has a square porti0n,j,at one end of it, and in this square portion there is turned a cylindrical portion, k, as shown in Fig. l. G represents a lever, which is secured to the cross-rotlf by means of a pivot, l: One end of this lever is provided with a fork, m, which is fitted on the shaft g, and the opposite end is provided with a V-shapcd projection, a.

To the cross-rodf there is attached aspring, o, which bears against the lever G, and has a tendency to keep the fork m of the lever G vover the square portionj of the shaft g, so as Ito prevent said shaft from turning, as will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 5. The rake F is connected to the endless chain E by means of a link, H, one end of which is attached by a pivot. p, to the cross-rod j', and the opposite end attached by a pivot, g, to the endless chain. (See Fig. l.)

To the under surface of t'h'e platform there are attached two metal plates or projections, t' r, both of which are shown in Fig. 4, and there is also attached to the under side of the platform a rod, s, which extends across one of the slots a. This also is shown in Fig. 4, and to the under side of the platform, at one end o1" the slots a, there are attached metal plates or bars t, which are shown in Fig. 4. The axis of one of the pulleys I) extends down through the bottom o-t' the box O, and has a crank,.t, attached to it.

The operation is as follows: Asthe machine is drawn along motion is communicated to the crank a, or to a pulley or gear-wheel on th'e same axis of the 'pulley I), by anyl suitable mechanism connected with theA drivingwheel. The chain E is thereby rotated in the direction indicated bythe arrows 1, Fig. 1, and the rake F will, in consequence of being connected to the chain E through the medium of the link H, have a reciprocating movement communicated to it. Where the rake Fis moving toward the inclined plate B, as indicated by the arrow 2, the shaftg is turned so that the teeth i will be down and nearly'in a horizontal position within the slots a, the teeth being held in i l n n this position in consequence of the fork m of] said plate, cause, 1u connection vwith the 1nthe lever G being over or on the square partj of the shaft g. V'Vhen the rake nearly reaches the termination of this movement the part or side a* ofthe V-shaped projection u of the lever Gr comes in contact with the pendent plate lr at the under side ot' the platform A, which causes the fork m to bc moved off from the square partj ot' the shalt g, and upon the cylindrical-part 7c thereof, and the shaft/g being thereby liberated or left free to move. One of the teeth t'then catches over the rod s, and the teeth i are all elevated when the rake F moves in the direction indicated by arrow 3, and the cut grain, during this movement ofthe rake, is swept ot'f from the platform, and just before the rake reaches the termination of this movement the side bX of the projection u ot' the lcver Gr will strike the pendent plate Wand cause the shaftg to be again released, so that the teeth t' will be turned down in consequence of coming in contact with the plates or bars t, and the ruhe moved in the direction ot' arrow 2, as before. rlhe spring o, it will be n ndeistood, forces the fork m ot' the lever G over the square partj of shaft g each time after the lever has been actuated to liberate the shaft. 'lhe inclined plate B serves as a cover for the .raketeeth when the latter are elevated, preventing the cut grain from interfering .with this adjustment ot'V them.

The inclined plate serves to cover the raketeeth while thesame are being turned up, and

wooden stri is a* X which are attached to the clined plate B, the cutgrain to fall to the base of the plate, and the rake-teeth consequently do not have to perform any labor until they are fully turned up and the square part ofthe shaft is caught by the lever.

In consequence ot' having the rake-teeth turned down, as showu-towit, by comingin contact with the bars tat the ends ofthe slots a-the teeth are drawn obliquely down from the grain, and it' the latter be tangled, which is frequently the case, it will form no impediment to the free disengagement of the teeth fromv the grain.

Having thus described my invention7 what I claim as new, and de-ire to secure by Letters Patent. is-

1. rlie endless chain E, having the rake attached to it by means of the link H, and the rake titted on guide-rods b b, as shown, in combination with the slotted platform A, all arranged as and for the purpose specified.

2. The lever G, provided at oneend with the fork m and at the opposite end with the V- shaped projection u, in combination with the shalt g, having teeth t' attached, and the pendent plates i i", rod s, and plates t at the under side ot' the platform, al arranged as and l'or the purpose specilied.

J OllT NELSON.A

Witnesses:

WILLIAM GENT, J. G. MANLOVE. 

